homecoming. >> america's war in iraq will be over. michelle, you are a -- >> u.s. president barack obama declares the end of the war with a tribute to american troops. obama says one of the most extraordinary chapters in the history of the american military will come to an end. all u.s. soldiers are set to leave iraq at the end of the month. obama has welcomed some of them home.

>> i'm proud to finally say these two words. and i know your families agree. welcome home. welcome home! >> obama addressed troops at ft. bragg, north carolina. he said u.s. forces are leaving behind a sovereign, stable, and self-reliant iraq with a representative government elected by its people. obama admitted the war has divided americans. >> since then our efforts in iraq have taken many twists and turns. it was the source of great controversy here at home. >> some 1.5 million u.s. soldiers were sent to iraq. 4,500 of them were killed. a japanese business survey shows sentiment is down for the latest quarter. ai uchida with more on that. ai, good morning. >> good morning, catherine. down indeed. that's the first time since

june. this just coming in to us. the bank of japan's closely watched tankan quarterly survey says business sentiment among major manufacturers turned negative for the first time in six months. the index stood at minus four points. the central bank says the downturn in confidence reflects the impact of the strong yen and global economic slowdown stemming from the european debt crisis. once again, the tankan down at four points. now let's get a check on the markets. the dow jones industrial average ended lower for the third day in a row as jitters over eurozone debts and a drop in commodity prices weighed on global markets. to see how things are starting here in tokyo this thursday morning we're going to go to ramin mellegard, who is at the tokyo stock exchange. ramin, lots of negatives driving the markets down overnight, and we've just had the tankan business survey out in japan. how are markets opening over there? >> very good morning to you, ai. as you mentioned, key economic data for japan with the quarterly business sentiment survey there coming at minus 4.

and the first negative you that said there in six months. let's have a look at the opening levels this thursday morning and see the market reaction there. and it's negative. down 70 points for the nikkei and down almost 5 points for the topix. let's not forget, the nikkei closed yesterday. two-week low pushing it below 8,500. and we're below that right now as well. that dampened sentiment even for the tokyo stock exchange's biggest public offering yesterday from korean online video gaming company nexon, which itself ended down 2.3%. but of course the focus is also on olympus, and it managed to come out with its april to september earnings yesterday before that december 14th deadline by which it would have been delisted had it not come out with its earnings. and the olympus president today around midday is going to go over those numbers, and then after the markets later today former president michael woodford is also going to give a news conference. so a lot of focus on olympus

today as well. we'll keep track of that, as well as a lot of key blue chip stocks, which have been affected by that weaker euro which we're seeing again today. ai? >> yeah, ramin, we're seeing that euro dip every day this week on the back of eurozone concerns. so where are we trading today? >> yeah, definitely. let's bring up currency levels right now. and you can see will it's trading around 101.43-48 on the offered side. it's really a question of euro weakness. because if you look at the dollar/yen, the yen actually is slightly weaker. the 78.10-11, when it was trading around 77 just a couple of days ago. so persistent worried about eurozone debt has been pushing the euro lower. it's been down around 6% so far this year, just around 2% so far this week. but also let's keep track of commodities. we did see wt ichli crude oil a gold down 5%. so we'll keep track of the major japanese trading houses such as marubeni and itochu.

a lot of investors shifting assets away from commodities, also into short-term money markets such as u.s. treasury bills. but for now, ai, the nikkei and the topix trading lower. back to you. >> all right, ramin, thanks a lot for that. the nikkei at 8,450. our very own ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. now, opec has agreed to raise crude oil output to 30 million barrels a day. the 12 member countries of the organization reached the agreement on wednesday during a meeting at its headquarters in vienna. oil prices have remained high since the political turmoil in libya. benchmark london brent oil prices continue to top $100 a barrel. opec's daily production target was set at 24.85 million barrels a day. but saudi arabia and other countries have increased production since june to prevent prices from rising. the agreement endorsed the saudi move. after the meeting opec's secretary-general abdullah

al-badri said the current price level is good for both producing and consuming countries and that it does not hinder world economic growth. meanwhile, the head of japan's petroleum association, akihiko tembo, said oil prices are not expected to change much from the current levels. he predicts the price will move between 90 and $110 a barrel. let's take a look at those market figures once again. ♪

all right. that is the latest from business news. now it is back for more with catherine. >> thanks very much, ai. a new timetable says it will take up to 40 years to decommission the damaged reactors at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. nhk has learned about the timetable drawn up by the industry ministry and tokyo electric power company. it calls for the removal of used fuel rods from spent fuel pools in four reactor buildings within the next two years, starting with reactor number 4. the removed spent fuel will be temporarily stored within the compound. the timetable also says that work to remove the melted fuel inside number 1 through number 3 reactors should be completed in 25 years. then work will begin to dismantle the reactors and buildings. the schedule includes repair work to fill cracks in the reactors and containment vessels where contaminated water has leaked. the work will be undertaken in very difficult conditions including high levels of radiation and will require the

use of remote controlled robots. jts small businesses along japan's northeast coast are turning elsewhere to get their production and processing lines up and running. they've faced delay after delay since the march 11th tsunami washed ashore. customers have slipped away. now some managers are going overseas to make their products. nhk world's shun ishibe reports. >> reporter: saiki oradera is taking his business on the road in an effort to rebuild. he manages the seafood processing company kanedai in kesennuma, japan. he came to this convention in dalian, china to turn things around. the tsunami last march washed away all five of his company's plants. the company was unable to process seafood. managers were forced to lay off 84 employees, more than half their workforce.

>> translator: i think it will take a number of years until we get back to where we were before the disaster. >> reporter: still, onodera and managers from 18 other small businesses hit by the march disaster are trying their best. they pitched their products to companies from all over china. onodera and his team are back at work, but it's slow going. sales have dropped about 80% since the disaster. onodera has no idea when his plants will get going again. so he and his colleagues are planning to move their processing to china. to seek out new opportunities. a steady stream of representatives from chinese

corporations stopped by onodera's booth. nearly all of them sampled the shrimp. >> translator: it's tender and delicious. >> reporter: onodera headed out after a long day to a japanese restaurant in dalian. chinese customers are eating more and more japanese food. so onodera talked up a technique developed at his plant that preserves freshness. >> translator: shrimp turns black easily, and the vitamin c we're using prevents this effect. actually, it helps to bring out the sweet taste of the shrimp. >> translator: let me try. the quality is good. some things are on the expensive side, but some are priced just

right. overall, i'd say we'd have no objections to purchasing these products. >> translator: i'm hoping that we can help our business grow by having one foot in japan and the other in china. >> reporter: onodera knows it will be a challenge. he hopes going abroad will help his company and others recover what they've lost at home. shun ishibe, nhk world, dalian, china. >> people working in the fishery up and down japan's northeast coast know all about those challenges. chi yamagishi has met with a lot of them. she joins us from our studio in sendai. >> the disaster last march hit so many companies the japanese economy trade and industry ministry said it destroyed or damaged more than 30,000 factories, removing links up and down the supply chain. 70% of large macturers were

considering transporting some or all of their production lines overseas because of the disaster or other reasons. several months later those that remain are still struggling to get back up to speed. the japanese government has been encouraging companies to market their products in new places. the government is holding conventions in china and other countries and inviting forp buyers to trade shows for products from the tohoku region. so this trend of expanding overseas is likely to continue. >> that was chie yammagishi in our studio in sendai. "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. "nuclear watch" brings you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead" examines japan's efforts to recover and

rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline." south korean coast guard officers can now shoot guns to defend themselves in confrontations with illegal fishermen. their commanders held an emergency meeting to respond to the killing this week of an officer. a chinese fishing boat captain stabbed him after he boarded a boat. the commissioner general of the maritime police agency mo kang-in told commanders that the killing had threatened the sovereignty of south korea and hurt the people's pride. he said from now on groups of armed fishermen in south korean waters will be viewed as criminal rings and will be treated harshly. coast guard officers will be allowed to shoot anyone who threatens them with a weapon below the thighs. officers involved in shootings will not be held accountable. the south korean government is expected to come up with comprehensive measures as early as next week to deal with illegal chinese fishing. japan's foreign minister,

koichiro gemba, says he will try to set up a new framework for trilateral dialogue with the united states and china. >> translator: to have a strategic dialogue and partnership between japan, the u.s., and china has become more important than ever. >> but gemba told reporters in tokyo on wednesday that the japan/u.s. alliance will continue to be the cornerstone of the nation's foreign policy. the foreign minister said settling affairs in the asia-pacific region requires china's full participation. he added that japan has no plans to encircle or exclude china and that it is important to make joint efforts to secure peace and prosperity of the region. the visit of a japanese ship serves as a sign of those efforts. a destroyer will make a port call in china next week, the first in three years. the visit is part of military exchanges between the two countries.

defense ministry officials say the destroyer "kirisame" will arrive in the northern city of qingdao on monday and will stay for five days. the ship's crew members will make a courtesy visit to a chinese warship whose crew will then visit the "kirisame." the two sides will also conduct communications exercises. japan and china began holding naval exchanges in 2007 to improve relations in order to offset any unexpected incidents. the exchange was not held last year. in september a chinese trawler collided with two japanese patrol ships off japan's senkaku islands in the east china sea. relations between the two countries soured. japan looks set to adopt the f-35 as its next generation fighter jet. the aircraft is being jointly developed by the united states and eight other countries. senior defense ministry officials on wednesday put forward their proposal to adopt the f-35. the plan won approval from the

government and ruling party officials. the ministry says its working team gave the f-35 higher marks on performance and other factors than two competitors, boeing's fa-18 and the eurofighter developed by four european countries. the ministry also considered which of the planes would allow japanese companies the greatest involvement in manufacturing and maintenance. the f-35 selection will become official at a national security conference attended by prime minister yoshihiko noda scheduled for later this week. next we go to patchari raksawong in bangkok to find out what's making headlines in the region. >> pakistani prime minister yus avenue raza gilani is seeking assurances from the united states as his government reassesses bilateral relations. ties between the two countries have deteriorated following a deadly air strike against pakistani forces last month. gilani made a statement on tuesday setting out conditions necessary to maintain cooperation.

>> under no circumstances could we accept flagrant transgression of our territorial frontiers. this remains our baseline, and there can be no compromise on sovereignty. >> pakistan summoned its ambassadors to 15 countries including the united states, china, and india to attend a rare two-day meeting to discuss policy towards the united states. gilani urged the u.s. to offer assurances that pakistan would never again come under cross-border attack from international forces stationed in afghanistan. last month's air strike on pakistani border positions killed 24 soldiers. gilani told the meeting that the raid constituted a huge setback in bilateral cooperation with the united states. and staying in pakistan, the conservative muslim country has

been criticized for gender inequality. in 2010 at least 8,000 incidents were reported of violence against women. but in a landmark move the country has passed a set of laws that could help protect millions of women from abuse. pakistan's parliament unanimously passed the bills on monday. they increased punishments in cases when women accused of misdeeds are attacked with asset, often by members of their own family. they also target practices such as forced marriages, unions with child brides, and preventing women from inheriting property. human rights activists have praised the new laws. >> this time it was to my pleasant surprise that even the religious parties were together against these practices. >> the world economic forum ranks pakistan as the world's

third worst country for gender disparities in health, education, politics, and economic opportunity. and that will conclude our bulletin for today. i'm patchari raksawong in bangkok. in other news we're covering here on "newsline," myanmar has been attracting a lot more attention recently ever since it began showing signs of a shift toward democracy. as part of that effort a group of myanmar officials has visited the tokyo stock exchange to see firsthand how one of the world's biggest exchanges operates. ten officials from myanmar's central bank and the ministry of national planning and economic development visited the stock exchange on wednesday at the invitation of the japanese government. stock exchange officials gave them a tour and explained how the japanese trading system works. a new government was installed in myanmar in march. however, the country's economy was run down after years of mismanagement under the former military government.

>> there are a lot of things we have to learn because japan is a developed country. technical assistance, it's -- we will warmly welcome. >> myanmar is hoping that international sanctions will eventually be lifted and is seeking japan's support in promoting foreign investment. time now to check on some of the stories we've gathered from broadcasters around asia. we begin with this item set by rtm malaysia. the malaysian government says it has busted an international syndicate engaged in ivory smuggling. customs officials seized 15 tons of elephant tusks and suspected ivory handicrafts from port clang. the street value of the products is estimated at $1 million. the initial investigation shows that the banned goods originated in kenya and were bound for

cambodia via the southern malaysian state of jahur. sri lanka and qatar have agreed to boost economic and cultural cooperation, as well as to improve air connections. a deal was signed after sri lankan president met the visiting qatari prime minister in colombo on tuesday. the qatari prime minister said that private firms from his country are interested in opening super luxury hotels in the capital and other well-known tourist sites. an international hort kult ral exposition kicked off in the northern thai province of cheng mai. highlights of the expo include agricultural conferences and plant contests. the organizers expect at least 2 million visitors including about 2 hunl 00,000 from overseas. the expo could also give a boost to the local tournament

industry. japan is starting to feel the winter chills. let's go to sayaka mori for the bigger weather picture here and elsewhere. hello, welcome to your weather update. let's take a look at what's happening across east asia. we are monitoring a tropical depression over the pacific. it's moving in a westerly direction, headed toward the southern philippines. and it could become a tropical storm within the next 24 hours. so stormier conditions are expected in the southern portions into the weekend. up toward the north a large system is bringing chilly weather across most of china. the exception is across the inland area you may see some showers developing today. and across japan our low pressure system is moving through the northern nation, bringing heavy snow to hokkaido. we're expecting up to 30 centimeters of snow by friday morning. blowing snow conditions are also

possible here. and rain is falling by the tohoku regs. and some of the precipitation will turn to snow starting tonight. and strong winds are creating high waves along the west coast. but it's a difference for the opposite side of the country. it will stay largely dry. temperaturewise, warming up nicely in tokyo. we expect it to be 16 degrees. feels like mid november. but cold air will continue to sag southward and pushing down temperatures across china and the korean peninsula. zero degrees in seoul. and minus 21 in ulan bator, which is about ten degrees below than average. heading over to the americas, things have turned very quiet across the four corners region, but it's getting very wet and windy from ontario all the way downo texas. severe thunderstorms are possible across texas and oklahoma. and the rest of the area will see a mix of rain and snow as well as freezing rain. the system will move very slowly toward the east and affect

quebec as well as nungds in the next 24 hours. across the west a new system is moving into british columbia as well as the pacific northwest, bringing rain and strong winds. but it's not a potent storm, so it should dissipate on thursday. minus 10 degrees in winnipeg and 7 in seattle, but across the east lots of warm areas coming in, pushing up temperatures. we're expecting 12 in toronto, which is about ten degrees higher than average and 19 in atlanta. finally, let's go over to europe. it's wet and windy again across most of the european countries. several atlantic systems will continue to bring heave veriy rain as well as snow and strong winds. particularly windy in the areas like france, germany, as well as poland. in northern germany winds could hit 115 kilometers per hour and strong winds are creating high waves along the coast off the iberian peninsula.

waves could reach seven meters on the west coast. as for precipitation, a mix of rain and snow. mix of rain and snow will develop over a wide area of the british isles as well as the scandinavian peninsula. and much of continental europe. and heavy snow is expected in the northern uk. and heavy rain in southern sweden. and severe thunderstorms are possible in northern germany. temperatures are looking like this. we're expecting 9 degrees in paris and 7 in vienna. and way above average in moscow with 5 degrees in rome. all right. i will leave you now with your extended forecast. ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ our lead story this hour, u.s. president barack obama says one of the more extraordinary chapters in the history of the american military will come to an end. all u.s. soldiers are set to leave iraq at the end of the

month. obama has welcomed some of them home. >> i'm proud to finally say these two words. and i know your families agree. welcome home. welcome home. >> obama addressed troops at frt bragg, north carolina. he said u.s. forces are leaving behind a sovereign, stable, and self-reliant iraq with a representative government elected by its people. obama admitted the war has divided americans. >> since then our efforts in iraq have taken many twists and turns. it was a source of great controversy here at home. >> some 1.5 million u.s. soldiers were sent to iraq. 4,500 of them were killed. and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do stay with us.